Bhubaneswar: The two-day National Conference on Conservation of Eastern Ghats, organised in association with the Council of Green Revolution, began Saturday at Utkal University here.
The Council for Green Revolution works for the protection of the ranges and through this conference, it aims to bring conservationists, academics and environmentalists together on one platform and design a comprehensive policy for the protection of the hill range.
The conference, which was inaugurated by governor S.C. Jamir, will have 12 invited lectures in the technical sessions by eminent academics, activists and policy experts to deliberate on different themes – Eastern Ghats and associated ecosystems, Biodiversity and conservation, Issues and sustainable management of ecosystems, Indigenous communities and developmental activities, Role of Civil Society, Youth And Women, Legal, policy, governance and management framework.
The lead lectures in every session will be followed by research papers, the organisers said. More than 100 research papers from different national research institutions, universities, senior forest administrators and social activists will be presented.
Council for Green Revolution’s CEO G. Narayan Rao said the Eastern Ghats occupied a centre stage in ecological, economic and socio-cultural development of the state, Telegraph India reported..
“The ranges are extremely fragile to degradation and unique species are under threat. Many scientists have cautioned about the degradation and this warrants immediate attention and action-plans to conserve the eco-geosphere,” he said.
“While many academic and scientific publications have brought the Western Ghats and Himalayas into limelight for conservation, similar efforts have to be put in to help conserve the Eastern Ghats,” he added.
“Deforestation, haphazard mining, construction of dams, forest fires, temple tourism, roads, power plants and transmission lines during the past seven decades have caused irreparable damage to the ecosystem. This has affected the local population and induced erratic patterns,” said organising convener of the seminar and Utakl University’s head Zoology Pratibha K. Mahapatra.